Thomas g



(No Model.)

- T. G. HALL.

TOOL FOR GRASPING AND HOLDING ARTICLES.- No. 275,335. Patented Apr.-31883.

Fi 1. Fig.2.

Man

.By his Attorneys,

V N. PETERS. Fhuza-mm n lm. Walhingion, ma

UNITED STATES THOMAS G. HALL, OF BROOKLYN,

PATENT OFFICE.

ASSIGNOR TO ISAAC N. COOK AND SAMUEL B. MCLANE, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

TOOL FOR GRASPING AND HOLDING ARTICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 275,335, dated April 3,1883.

Application filed November 29, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS G. HALL, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Brooklyn, Kings county, New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Tools for Grasping and Holding Articles,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates mainly to an improvement on thatclass of visesandbrace-wrenches which employ a tail-screw to spread the tails of thejaws; and it consists in arranging the tails of the jaws or portionsthereof to engage and play in grooves or keyways in a fixed part,whereby torsion of the jaws is prevented, and in a direct pulllongitudinally of thejaws the strain is taken wholly or partially offthe the screws. 3

In the drawings which serve to illustrate my invention, Figure l is aside view of a handvise provided with my improvements; and Fig. 2 is anedge view of the same, taken at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 1, illustrating the application of my invention to acombined. wrench and bit-brace; and Fig. 4. is an edge view of the tailportion of same as viewed from arrow 4. in Fig. 3. Figs. 5 and 6illustrate modifications.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 most particularly, A A are the jaws of thehand-vise, a a being the heads of thejaws, and I) b the tails of thesame. B is a right-and-left screw, designed to set or adjust the headsof the jaws on the article to be held, and G isaright-and-left screw,

adapted to spread the tails of the jaws and cause the heads to clamp thearticle forcibly, the jaws acting on the pivoted or rocking nuts 0 c ofthe screw B as on fnlcrums. The tailscrew 0 is also provided withrocking nuts.

So far as above described, the tool is essentially old, having beenshown in former patents of J. Goodrich, notably his Patent No. 227,686,of May 18, 1880. I find, however, that unless some provision is made toprevent it, there is a certain amount of distortion of the vise-jawsproduced by necessary torsional strains brought upon them in use, andcaused mainly by a certain looseness about the bearings of thetail-screw. This distortion is injurious to the vise, and to obviate itI provide the vise with the appliances I will now describe.

D is a block through which the tail-screw G passes, and in which it isrotatively mounted. To prevent the screw from playing endwise through orin this block, a circumferential groove is cut in the body of the screwwhere it rests in the block, and a set-screw, d, is screwed through theblock until its point engages the groove in the screw. This device,which permits the screw to turn freely, is shown in the former patentsof Goodrich.

Formed in one with or attached to the block D is a cross-piece, E,having tubular end portions, 0 e, longitudinally slotted or cut throughat their upper sides, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2, where thecross-piece is shown in end eleva tion. The tail of each vise-jaw isprovided with a cylindrical slide, f, which fits snugly into the tubularhollow in the cross-piece, its neck, which joins it to the tail of thejaw, taking into and playing in the slot in the upper side of thetubular end portion, 6. When the jaws are spread by means of the screwsthe slides f play in the tubular portions 6 of the cross-piece E, and,while they permit the jaws to move freely toward or from each other,they prevent any torsional strain from distorting the jaws. The viseshown in Figs. 1 and 2 is adapted particularly for use in putting uptelegraphwires, where the vise is clamped on the wire and the latterstrained by means of a strap attached to the cross-piece E'by means ofan eye, g, in the latter. This longitudinal strain on the vise is verygreat, and where the slides f are not employed said strain is thrownwholly upon the tail-screw 0 through the medium of the bloclt D, as willbe readily seen. These slides, however, take under overhanging parts ofthe tubular end portions, e, and thus take the strain in whole or inpart off the screw.

In adjusting the jaws to the article to be grasped they are usuallyspread by means of both screws B and C, so as to preserve approximatelythe parallelism of the jaws; but

jaws the tail-screw is turned until the jaws grasp the article firmly.This will spread the tails of the jaws ordinarily a little more than theheads and throw them out of parallelism. So far as the screws areconcerned, this is provided for by the employment of the rocking whenthe article is properly placed in the and slide in dovetail or undercutgrooves in nuts, and the slight looseness of the parts where the slidesffit in the tubular portions 0 will be sufficient to permit the jaws tostand at the necessary angle with each other. The slide fmight, however,be made spherical, as shown in the sectional view, Fig. 5, if desired,which would provide for all the divergence of the jaws that couldpossibly be needed, and yet permit the parts to fit snugly together.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, wherein I have shown my improvements asapplied to a combined wrench and bit-brace, the same letters ofreference refer to the same parts generally, the only ditference beingthat the block D extends up to the screw B and the latter has a bearingtherein, and the wrench is provided with guides F for the jaws. Thisconstruction is the same as that illustrated in Goodrichs patent beforementioned, and is merely used here by way of illustration. I prefer,also, in this case, to make the slidesf in the form of dovetailsarranged to engage the cross piece E. This cross-piece forms a part ofthe brace, which I have not deemed it necessary to show in full, as itis or may be of the usual shape and construction.

In employing this tool as a wrench to grasp a nut, G, for example, thereis considerable twisting or torsional strain on the jaws, as will bereadily seen, and this strain is resisted by the engagement of theslides f with the cross-piece E.

here the tool is to be used mainly for boring, or for screwing on nutsarranged as shown in Fig. 3that is to say, where the axis of the bore inthe nut is substantially parallel with the axis of the tool,it would besufficient to merely form a groove in the crosspiece E, as shown in themodification, Fig 6, and to provide thejaw ofthe wrench withaplain slideto fit in said groove. This construction is the same as that shown inthe other figures, except that the groove is not undercut; but where thetool is to be employed for screwing on nuts arranged and grasped atright angles to that shown in Fig. 3--that is to say, with the axis ofthe bore of the nut at right angles to the axis of the tool-it isimportant that the slides f should be arranged to take under some partof the cross-piece E, because in this case the strain tends to draw oneor the other of the said slides out of its groove, as will beunderstood.

In Figs. 1 and 3 I have shown parts of the jaws of the tool broken awayto illustrate the construction of the rocking nuts, although I make noclaim to these. The screwsB and 0 may be manipulated by means of wingednuts or milled disks, as shown.

Although I have shown my improvements as applied to a vise and wrenchwith rocking nuts, they are equally well adapted to any of the class ofparallel visesthat is to say, to that class of vises wherein the tailsof the jaws are spread equally with their beads by any means whatever.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- I. As a means forpreventing torsion of the jaws in a tool for grasping and holdingarticles, the block D, mounted on the tail-screw of the tool, and thecross-piece E, attached thereto and provided with grooves to receiveprojections on the tails of the jaws, substan tially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a tool for grasping and holding articles, ofthe block D, mounted on the tail-screw of the tool, and the cross-pieceE, provided with undercut grooves to receive the slides on the tails ofthe jaws, all constructed and arranged to operate substantially as setforth.

3. The combination, in a vise, of the visejaws provided with cylindricalslides f, the screws for spreading the jaws, the block D, mounted on thetail-screw of the vise, and the cross-piece E, attached to the block Dand provided with slotted cylindrical cavities to engage the slides onthejaws, all arranged to operate substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

' THOMAS G. HALL.

Witnesses:

HENRY CONNEIT, ARTHUR O. FRASER.

